Cooked Fruit Pie

Yield: one 9-inch pie
Recipe: 132/200
“Back to Baking”, pp. 90

    What a weird time to be alive. In any case, baking keeps me sane and always makes me happy, so better keep calm and keep baking. As is known fact by now, I am not by any stretch of the imagination an expert at making pies. Regardless, at some point I would have to make this recipe anyways, so I finally decided to jump in and try to make this cooked fruit pie recipe. I don’t think I’ve ever made a pie where the fruit is cooked prior to baking, so I did not really know what to expect. I tried to use up what I had in my fridge and freezer, so I used a mixture of peaches, raspberries and blackberries.

    I’m not sure if I did it right, but I was imagining that the fruits would still maintain some of their shape and structure while cooking. Perhaps it is because I used frozen fruits, but the mixture was very liquid and everything kind of meshed together. It is also likely that I stirred the simmering fruits a bit too much, thus destroying them in the process. Nonetheless, I let the whole thing thicken as much as I thought reasonable, then put it in the pie shell and baked as instructed. I have to admit that, at first, I was not a fan of the pie. I found the texture to be strange and the flavour confusing. However, I think this might only have been due to the fact that I didn’t know what to expect, because all the following slices I had I found to be actually delicious and very pleasant to eat! Just warmed a little bit with some tea, it is truly a treat and a good way to get something sweet with a little buttery taste from the crust.

Ingredients:

• 1 recipe Double-Crust Pie Dough
• 2 tablespoons rolled oats
• Fresh or frozen fruits with the following ratios:

Fruit	Sugar	Cornstarch	Other
6 cups blueberries	1 ½ cups	3 ½ tbsp	3 tbsp lemon juice 2 tsp lemon zest
6 cups raspberries	1 ½ cups	3 ½ tbsp	¼ tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp vanilla extract
6 cups pitted tart cherries	1 ⅓ cups	4 tbsp	¼ tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp vanilla extract
5 cups blackberries	1 ¼ cups	2 tbsp	1 tbsp lemon juice 1 tsp vanilla extract
6 cups peeled and sliced peaches	1 cup	2 tbsp	1 tsp vanilla extract ¼ tsp ground cinnamon

• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon water
• Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling (optional)

Directions:

1. While the pie dough is chilling, prepare the fruit. In a saucepot, bring the fruit up to a simmer. In a bowl, stir the sugar and cornstarch together, and gently stir this with the fruits.
2. Add the remaining ingredients to the simmering fruits and continue cooking until the mixture has thickened, stirring gently so as not to break down the fruit too much. Scrape the fruit into a bowl and cool the filling to room temperature. 
   • Note: the filling can be made ahead of time and chilled until ready to assemble. 
3. Pull the pastry from the fridge 30 minutes before rolling. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place a 9-inch pie plate onto a parchment-lined baking tray and dust the pie plate with flour. 
4. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the first pastry disc to just under ¼ inch thick and line the prepared pie plate. Sprinkle the oats on the bottom of the pastry shell. Gently spoon the filling into the shell.
5. Roll out the remaining pastry disc and cut out a small hole in the centre of the pastry so that the steam can escape as it bakes. Place the rolled pastry overtop the fruit and press the edges together. Trim away any excess dough, and pinch the edges together to create a pattern.
   • Alternatively, you can make a lattice pattern with the top dough if you prefer. 
6. Whisk the egg and water together, and brush the surface of the pastry with this mixture. Sprinkle the pie with turbinado sugar. 
7. On the prepared baking tray, bake the pie for 12 minutes at 400°F, then reduce the heat to 375°F and bake for about 40 more minutes, until the crust is a rich golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Cool the pie for at least 2 hours before slicing.